Marquette woman faces murder charge

DULUTH, Minn. – A Marquette woman coldly and calculatedly stabbed a woman in the back and then pulled the knife out because she wanted the victim to bleed to death, a St. Louis County prosecutor told a Duluth judge Tuesday.

Nicole Leone Revello, 29, heard those words without visible emotion as she was charged just after noon with intentional second-degree murder in the Sunday death of 46-year-old Lisa Kay Davis of Duluth in a Central Hillside apartment.

The criminal complaint alleges the dispute started over some clothing that Revello took from the apartment. Duluth police on Monday said the specific item of clothing in dispute was a pair of pants, but the complaint refers to a bag of clothing.

St. Louis County prosecutor Kristen Swanson asked Judge Eric Hylden to set bail at $350,000 because of the serious nature of the crime and the fact that Revello has no ties to the community and that she is a threat to public safety. Hylden set bail at $250,000.

Swanson told the court that Revello initially gave a false name to officers who responded to the scene at 108 E. Fifth St. just before noon CDT Sunday. She said the defendant intentionally stabbed Davis once in the back and wanted to make sure the knife was removed so that the victim would bleed to death.

At least three occupants of the residence were present at the time of the stabbing. One witness told police that Revello and Davis had a heated argument earlier in the morning and the defendant brandished a hammer at Davis.

That witness said after he returned to his bedroom, Davis opened the door and said that Revello had stabbed her. He said the victim fell into his arms. He saw Revello holding a knife, which he removed from her hand. He said the defendant grabbed another knife, and he hollered: “Don’t stab me!”

Another witness said she heard the argument and heard the victim say, “Oh my god, oh my god, she stuck me.”

Revello was given a Miranda advisory and provided a statement to police. She said, “That lady was just bitching bitching about her boyfriend and this and his wife and all this crap and who the f– are you.”

The defendant said she then spent some time sharpening knives in the kitchen, which she said she learned how to do from her father.

According to the criminal complaint, Revello admitted to stabbing Davis and went on to say, “I killed her.” An investigator asked the defendant if she intended to kill the victim. She reportedly replied: “Yeah, yeah, and I had to shut her up.”

She said she selected the place to stab Davis because, “I heard it on TV and obviously it’s a good f— area.”

When asked why she didn’t help the victim after she stabbed her, Revello told police: “That wasn’t the point.”

The knife used to stab Davis was 7 to 8 inches long and was located in the residence with blood on it. The stone the defendant used to sharpen the knives also was recovered.

An autopsy performed by St. Louis County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Uncini revealed that Davis sustained a single stab wound on her back that severed her pulmonary artery, with the knife continuing through the victim’s lung and perforating her aorta.